I've been home the past couple of days, since Wednesday afternoon exactly. Why, you ask? I have a nasty tummy bug called gastroenteritis. Some of you may recall that I had this very same thing whilst at Laurel Pines back in 2000 I believe. Basically it's an infection in my intestines.. gross. I came home from work early on Wednesday afternoon after nearly passing out and scaring everyone in my office to death. I wasn’t able to eat anything the first few days but have managed some crackers and mushy cereal. The doctor put me on a strict diet of water and rehydration sachets, which taste disgusting. I’m feeling much better today, so much better that I thought I ought to write a little blog. Only it won’t be little because I haven’t written in so long!

Well, I guess not at a lot happened in the beginning of August. It was quiet for a few weeks there. My, oh my, I wish I knew what that felt like now. Everything really kicked off the weekend of the 30^th. Jo’s mum’s best friend’s daughter Johanna got married that day. I hope you all followed that. Jo, Johanna and her brother George basically grew up together but hadn’t seen each other in years. She had her wedding in Gloucestershire – gorgeous place! Her parents have an old manor house in the country and they had a secret garden themed wedding. It was lovely.

The next week, 4^th Sept, our new church plant had its first meeting. The UK is very different from the US in that not many places are open 24 hours, let alone late. Most shops close around 5 or 6pm (it takes a lot of planning to get used to, believe me! ). Except for Thursdays. In Kingston, Thursday is ‘late night shopping’. All the stores are open until at least 8pm and that’s when church starts. Thus, we’re calling it Late Night Church. It’s so been so great so far. We’re meeting in the market house which is in the dead centre of Kingston town centre. We’ve been handing out leaflets and quite a few people who’ve taken one have come in! We’re excited to see what God is doing there.

That weekend, 6^th Sept, one of my very good friends, Claire (ginge), got married so Jo and I drove down to Brighton on Friday night for the music rehearsal. Claire asked myself and Claire Callaghan to sing, which was an amazing honour. It was such a beautiful ceremony, so perfect for Claire and Martin. I love weddings. Even more being on the other side of the coin. I look at Jo when the couple is saying their vows and my heart feels like it’s going to explode! I get so excited for the couple to get to experience how wonderful marriage is. 

For more pictures, go to http://s60.photobucket.com/albums/h21/amandajonathan/Claire_Martin/

The following Tuesday, last Tuesday, 9^th Sept, was our wedding anniversary, the anniversary of our wedding, not our marriage, haha. Jo and I went up to London, had a lovely dinner and went to see The 39 Steps. I had seen the 1930s film of it on TV one Saturday and loved it so we sent his parents to see the play last Christmas. They loved it and recommended that we see it too. It was hilarious! It was a lovely anniversary.

Last week was one of the most grueling of all weeks at work for me. The course I’ve been running all summer has finally come to a close. We literally had a day to produce a report and certificate each for nearly 200 students. I love doing this type of work but talk about pressure! I’m happy and sad it’s over. It was a lot of work but fulfilling work. That and basically there’s a series of things that need ticking off our list before we move and that was a big one. Speaking of, I officially handed in my notice on Monday. It was extremely hard to do, harder than I thought. I couldn’t get the words out without crying. But I’m very glad it’s all said and done. One less thing to worry about.

Last weekend Jo, Chris and Jonathan went off to Disneyland Paris for Chris’ stag do (bachelor party). Since Chris and Jonathan took Jo to Downtown Disney in Anaheim for his they thought they’d make a tradition of it. I was really perturbed at first but mostly jealous. I’ve been begging Jo to take me there for ages and then he flitters off with his mates! Haha. They went down for four days and had a blast. We all kind of thought they weren’t meant to go though. Jo nearly didn’t get his passport in time (another story), and then there was a fire in the channel tunnel. Lydia and I had to drive them down to Dover to board a ferry and then take another train down to Paris. They got there safely and had a great time. I, on the other hand, was miserable. I can’t believe how incredibly hard it was to be without Jo for four days. I felt so lost, like part of me was missing, and it was. I missed him with all my heart. I even scrunched up the duvet next to me so that it sort of felt like he was beside me at night. I’m a nerd, I know. I cannot describe the joy I felt when he finally got home. I nearly tackled him! With all that stress, it’s no wonder I got so ill!

Well, I believe it’s time to bring this little update to a close. There’s many more stories to be told in the coming weeks. I’ll be in touch again soon.

Countdown to Lunberg invasion: 7 weeks

*yes I'm wearing the same to dress to both weddings! They were two completely different crowds of people and the dress was too expensive to only wear once!